The Democratic candidates and Adolfo Carrion, who is running on the Independence Party line, appeared, but the three Republican candidates declined to participate.

At the 44-minute mark, moderator Errol Louis of NY1 asks the candidates about the New York Police Department's surveillance program, which, according to the Associated Press, specifically focuses on Muslims.

New York City Comptroller John Liu and pastor Erick Salgado were the only ones who said it was unconstitutional. Former comptroller Bill Thompson said it was probably done constitutionally, but is wrong and would end if he's elected. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn—who both told me they would keep the program in place—did not address the issue. Quinn also ignored a jab at her from de Blasio, and did not remind this audience, as she has done elsewhere, that she would try to keep the current NYPD commissioner, Ray Kelly, on in his post if she were elected mayor.

The candidates also debated whether it was appropriate for Brooklyn College to officially sponsor a panel discussion featuring two anti-Israeli= speakers. Quinn, de Blasio and Thompson said a more "balanced" presentation should have been made, since the school was an official sponsor of the event. Liu disagreed and said people with another point of view could have had another event, also sponsored by the school.

Later, all the candidates agreed on adding Muslim school holidays into the public school calendar, something Mayor Michael Bloomberg has opposed.